The winter sewing project | Part one

 

  

My winter sewing project is the re-creation of two coats worn by Miss Fisher in the Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries series. This coat was worn in the episode Raisins & Almonds.

I had no hope of 

A) actually replicating the coat, or

B) making anything in a 1920's style that would be flattering to wear. I'm not suited to the era, body-shape-wise.

My version of this coat has a faux-fox fur collar, is fitted about the waist with no belt, and does not come with a matching skirt. The length is about the same as the original but with a flared skirt.  The fabric is wool and it's very warm.

Pattern is Vogue 8346.

 

It's lined in steel grey-blue silk, used from a silk sari.

 

 

 

After being absent for a few weeks I'll be catching up on blogs, responding to comments and repaying the compliment to new followers over the next few days.

Parts two and three of the winter sewing project coming soon!

xx

Turning leopard print trousers into pedal pushers

 

I didn't think leopard print could be ugly until I laid eyes on these trousers in an op-shop.

Yuck. They're kind of 90's-does-vintage-and-murders-it.

However, I could see potential and this time I remembered to document the process. Every time I alter something I buy in an opshop, I forget to take 'before' photos because whatever it is I'm altering is so hideous. So here we go.

I like pedal pushers to end just below the knee. If they're much longer they feel like short (as in shrunken) trousers.  So first, I took 15 inches off the length, leaving an inch for a seam allowance. In these photos, I've pinned the left leg into a dart at the back to make it more fitted. The bootcut of these trousers means they need to be taken in a lot.

To make the legs narrower, I added a dart all the way up the centre back of the leg. I've realised that the backs of trouser legs are always cut wider than the front, so simply taking in the side seams doesn't work. It makes the front of the legs too narrow, usually resulting in a weird fit around the crotch.

I drew a line up the center of the back... 

(click on any of these to see them larger)

...and used it as a guide to pin the dart. I also used the lower edges of the back pockets as a guide.

This is with the dart still pinned. They're way more fitted now, but still a bit wide at the opening because of the original bootcut.

I took the darts in further in the lower half of the leg to eradicate that awful bootcut flare around the knee

A quick hem, and here is the finished product.

(just ignore my awesomely hardcore weekend tshirt...)

Now I just need to wait 6 months for summer to come around so I can wear the silly things...

Winter sewing project

It's coming!